New Delhi: The gangrape and torture of a Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh that led to her death has triggered nationwide outrage.
The 19-year-old woman died September 29, two weeks after she was allegedly gang-raped and strangled by upper caste men in the northern Indian state’s Hathras district.
District Police Superintendent Vikrant Vir on September 30 tweeted that the incident took place on September 14. The victim was first admitted to a hospital in Uttar Pradesh and later transferred to at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi due to the severity of her injuries.
Four upper caste men have been arrested and booked for rape and murder and an investigation is underway, the police claimed.
Activists associated with People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights have urged the National Human Rights Commission to conduct an on-the-spot probe into the incident and bring justice to the survivor and her family.
In a memorandum submitted to the commission September 30, the NGO, based in Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi town condemned “the barbaric and inhumane act” and demanded the state government take immediate action against the perpetrators.
The memorandum was signed by the committee’s convener Shruti Nagvanshi, secretary Shirin Shabana Khan and Lenin Raghuvanshi, the founder.
The committee has been working for the rights of Dalits for the past 25 years.
The Dalit woman hailed from a village under Chandapa police station in Mahamaya Nagar (Hathras). Her limbs were paralyzed and her tongue was brutally wounded.
Police have arrested one Sandeep and his uncle Ravi along with their friends Luv Kush and Ramu, all four belonging to the Thakur caste.
Another group to condemn the incident was All India Democratic Women’s Association that on September 29 condemned growing violence against women in Uttar Pradesh.
The association noted that the victim was gang raped when she went to collect fodder from the field.
“Seeing her critical condition, the administration should have shifted her immediately to Delhi for treatment. She was shifted from Aligarh to Delhi only after her father’s request,” the women’s association noted.
The rapists’ “barbaric torture” led to the victim suffering multiple fractures and permanent damage to her spinal cord. “Injuries to her neck left her in a totally paralyzed condition and she struggled to breathe. Her tongue was also slashed.”
The family has also alleged that the police did not register the complaint for five days, noted the statement signed by Malini Bhattacharya, president of the group and Mariam Dhawale, the general secretary.
“Uttar Pradesh has become a hotbed of crimes against women with daily incidents of kidnapping, rape and murder. The political patronage given to criminals in UP has led to a jungle raj with goons moving around with impunity,” their statement alleged.
In India’s caste-based hierarchy, Dalits — who are ranked the lowest and have been referred to as “untouchables” in the past — experience severe discrimination. India’s caste system was officially abolished in 1950, but the 2,000-year-old social hierarchy imposed on people by birth still exists in many aspects of life. The caste system categorizes Hindus at birth, defining their place in society, what jobs they can do and who they can marry.
According to human rights organizations, including the United Nations Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, Dalit women are particularly vulnerable to caste-based violence and discrimination.
In August, a 13-year-old Dalit girl was raped and murdered in Uttar Pradesh. Last year, two Dalit children were allegedly beaten to death after defecating in the open. In 2018, a 13-year-old girl from a lower caste was beheaded in the south of the country, allegedly by an assailant coming from a higher caste.
A day before the girl’s death, advocates for equal rights for Dalits organized a rally outside the Delhi hospital where she was undergoing treatment.
The leader of the group, Chandrashekhar Azad tweeted: “Me along with the victim’s family are protesting outside Safdarjung hospital right now. We will not tolerate this anymore. We will get justice.”
A number of Indian celebrities, including Bollywood actors and professional athletes, have used their social media to call on the government to adopt policies to protect women.
Meanwhile, data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on September 29 showed India recorded average 87 rape cases daily in 2019 and overall 405,861 cases of crime against women in the year. This was 7 percent more than what was recorded in the previous year. The country recorded 378,236 cases of crimes against women in 2018, the NCRB data showed.
Here there is no relevance in Latin Syro-Malabar differences. It is easy to ascribe such funny reasons for downgrading the intensity of cruelty and crime. In the whole world so far such customary or traditional differences could be wiped of fully. Such differences will disappear to some extent when the degree of enlightenment increases. So we should think of spreading awareness about human rights, individuality and dignity of other persons, the need for Self control, the need for more spiritual outlook etc. Those who go on finding some reasons like Latin Syro Malabar differences for tragedies will continue allegations without any impact on the subject of rape or violence
Sadness and anger are in plenty. Condemnation may also be. But now police say there was no rape. The police cremated the victim’s body in the night instead of handing over to family. We are living in a country where Govts are indifferent and the Police rules. We have seen such police cruelty in all States from Kashmir to Kanyakumari we have read many times the High and Supreme Courts indicting the police for their inefficient and half-hearted investigations and not keeping suitable records. . But what result ? The Govt is not governing but managing. We shall wait for the next rape for our sadness, anger and condemnation
I believe that the authorities have arrested the perpetrators of this unforgivable crime. Now the government must see to it that this case is taken up on fast track mode and justice delivered. The incident of cremating must also be investigated and punished if found illegal.
Caste mentality is inbuilt into the psyche of most Indians. The commentator, for example, belongs to Latin rite whom the Syro Malabar Catholics consider as inferior. Among the Latins themselves, there are several pecking orders according to which one gets placed low or high. In Goa for example, during my days in Mumbai, I remember reading in Matrimonial columns attributes like “Brahmin Catholic”. No law can remove this archaic belief. Perhaps education and improved economic condition for so called low castes may. What I don’t understand though is that these moron rapists of the higher caste views sexual contact with a lower class as not infringing on their caste purity. Hasn’t the chap’s private parts turned forever “unclean” following such contacts?
Rapes ruin India’s image.
Sadness and protests are in plenty. It has become a regular feature , In India 87 rapes take place daily. We have mighty governments for good governance. A simple question :— Who Rules? Govt. Or Police ? We notice from Kashmir to Kanyakumari , Police atrocities, custodial deaths, disrespect and ill treatment of citizens by police, corruption in police etc etc. Many a time many courts have expressed the view that police did not investigate properly and punctually, police was inefficient and records of proof were destroyed by the accused. But did any Govt. care to reform police, to ensure quick and unbiased and just investigations, or even to stop the police from harassing public and individuals on alleged flimsy grounds?
So rape and murder may continue suitably and we can remain helpless citizens
The whole nation should stand in protest with the activists to shame the government machinery to prevent such crime and later destroy the evidence.
Very Sad incident..